Images from Delusions of Grandeur by Grayson Perry and Madge Gill as seen at The Wallace Collection. The quilt outlined in blue is Grayson Perry I Know Who I Am, 2024 Cotton fabric and embroidery appliqué 234 x 234 cms, courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro.
Delusions of Grandeur is the wonderful world of Shirley Smith, a fictional persona created by Grayson Perry. Exhibiting at London’s Wallace Collection, it is a whirlwind of glorious colour, imagination, concept and materiality. Mediums including embroidery, quilts, digitally woven tapestries, sketches and ceramics are displayed alongside historic pieces from the Wallace Collection. The result is an extravaganza of eclectic brilliance.
If you are stuck in a bit of a creative rut this will reignite your creative spirit. It’s quite incredible what Grayson has created in his sketches with just humble biros and coloured pencils. You can also see the vibrant hand embroidery of artist Madge Gill (1862 – 1961) who inspired Grayson. Her work is dated from 1920 – 1950 but looks as fresh as if it was created today.
It also benefits from being two exhibitions in one as you can wander around the wealth of art and artifacts at the Wallace Collection. Depsite the permananet collection being open for free, I realised I hadn’t been since I was doing A-level art at school (30 years ago incase you were wondering.) This really is one of hte most imaginative exhibitions I’ve been to in a long, time.
If you are looking for a day out in the summer holidays, this is a must. If you can’t make it to London, the exhibtion catalogue is a close second to visiting the show and may well have you reaching for a sketchbook to start creating your own Delusions of Grandeur.
Delusions of Grandeur is exhibiting at The Wallace Collection until October 26th. Visit https://www.wallacecollection.org for further details.
